Firm Rankings

Vietnam

Corporate and M&A

Tilleke & Gibbinsβ workload covers transactions, business licensing and market entries for clients such as Fruit of the Loom. Franchising is also a core specialism, with clients in this space including Gap, Arcadia, Subway and Smoothie King. Senior attorneys-at-law Kien Trung Trinh and Vinh Quoc Nguyen are key contacts. Michael Lee and Jim Dao have left the firm.

Dispute resolution

Tilleke & Gibbinsβ dispute resolution practice, headed by managing partner Thomas Treutler, handles intellectual property disputes for major international clients, covering patents, trade marks and more esoteric forms of intellectual property. Loc Xuan Le represented the owners of trade marks covering the media, consumer electronics and the motor industry in actions against cybersquatters before the courts and in administrative proceedings. Employment law disputes are also an area of expertise.

Labour and employment

Tilleke & Gibbins advises well-known names, many of which have strong links to the technology and pharmaceutical sectors, on business-as-usual employment law matters. Kien Trung Trinh advises Foxconn Vietnam on day-to-day matters, and handles general employment matters for Lenovo, including employee departures. Other clients include Merck and Servier, for which the firm acts as outside employment counsel.

Real estate and construction

Tilleke & Gibbins advises foreign investors in the industrial and hospitality sectors, among others. Dat Hoang Truong was part of a team that advised Fruit of the Loom on purchasing two parcels of land, which included buying out a factory from joint-venture partners. Vinh Quoc Nguyen provides day-to-day advice to Marriott, which includes handling hotel management agreements. Other clients include Gensler, which the firm advises on regulations applicable to foreign construction companies. Jim Dao and Michael Lee are no longer with the firm.

TMT

Tilleke & Gibbins provides βexcellent service, useful answers and is highly responsiveβ. The team works with international law firms and their leading technology-sector clients to advise on regulatory concerns ranging from advertising, television content and gambling through to voice over internet protocol (VoIP) and data protection; attorney Tu Ngoc Trinh is a key contact for this work. The group also handles web domain disputes, where Loc Xuan Le is a name to note. Jim Dao left the firm.

Vietnam: Intellectual property

International firms

Tilleke & Gibbins is, arguably, βone of the best firms in the regionβ in the IP space and βclients can always count on it to be able to answer not just IP questions but ones on anything else in the regionβ. Thomas Treutler, who is βvery approachable for a senior practitioner β he is excellently skilled and knowledgeableβ, leads the practice, which advises well-known names on trade mark and patent registration, opposition and enforcement matters. Principal Loc Xuan Le, in addition to having βextensive experience in trade mark infringement mattersβ, handles web domain disputes; he represented Western Digital in two cases to retrieve three domains. Other highlights include Linh Thi Mai Nguyen advising Cartier on securing the registration of its red jewellery boxes as a trade mark, while trade mark executive Hang Thi Nguyen, who is βresponsive, regardless of the subject matter and degreeβ, successfully represented watch company Ebel in a trade mark opposition against a Chinese watchmaker. Thang Duc Nguyen, who heads the firmβs patent group, is also a key name for patent prosecution matters. Other clients include Honda, Koch Industries and pharmaceutical-sector luminaries such as Pfizer, Roche and Merck.

On 6/20/2012, the National Assembly voted to adopt the Law on Price (the "LOP") in response to the public demand for an effective legal framework to control price manipulation from dominant enterprises such as gasoline, electricity, etc. The law will take effect from 01/01/2013 and repeal Ordinance No. 40/2002/PL-UBTVQH10 dated 26/4/2002 of the National Assembly Standing Committee (the "Ordinance"), which is conceived as outdated and containing certain provisions contravening the WTOβs regulation. This article describes the main features of the law and provides some insight into its potential impacts on the Vietnamese economy.